T-Mobile Users Finally Get Caller ID

Nowadays, it’s entirely normal – and almost a rule – to have caller ID on your home phone.

What happens with cell phones, though? Certainly, when you receive a call from your mother, her name will pop up. But if you receive a call from a number you don’t know, you won’t see their name at all.

That’s changing. Cequint’s announced a caller ID feature for T-Mobile, though it’ll cost. Users will pay $3.99 a month, in addition to their current plan rate, for access. Cequint CEO Rick Hennessey said the feature provides customers with more control over their lives.

Whenever the cell screen starts flashing with an incoming call, customers will be able to store the caller’s name and number simply by pressing a key on their phone. Even though it’s sort of a plain feature (almost taken for granted when it comes to land lines), its certain to gain the interest of T-Mobile’s millions of users.

T-Mobile is the only carrier in the U.S. implementing Caller ID. It’s available on new Samsung Exhibit smartphones, which runs on Android, for a free 10-day trial period. More phones will be enabled soon, including the myTouch 4G Slide.

One fly in T-Mobile’s ointment: Verizon Wireless. One of that company’s policies is not to disclose the name of its customers on Caller ID, and includes T-Mobile phones. Perhaps that’ll change in the future — like if Verizon implements the same feature.